“Dying of Ambition,” Bob Rafsky and Governor Bill Clinton, New York City, March

“Dying of Ambition,” Bob Rafsky and Governor Bill Clinton, New York City, March 26, 1992. On March 26, 1992, then-Governor Bill Clinton attended a New York City fundraiser for his heated presidential primary campaign and, as he started his standard stump speech, ACT UP’s media coordinator Bob Rafsky pelted the candidate with questions, including “what are you going to do about AIDS?” Clinton launched into an answer, only to be cut off again, with Rafsky shouting “Bill, we’re not dying of AIDS as much as we are from eleven years of government neglect.” Clinton again attempted to respond – “That’s why I’m running for President – when Rafsky shouted that, while he was dying of AIDS, Clinton was "dying of ambition.” At that point, Clinton famously lost his temper (the following day, the New York Times proclaimed “AIDS Protester Provokes Clinton’s Anger”) and launched into a monologue that, at first, seemed focused on chiding Rafsky for his tactics (“I have treated you and all the people who’ve interrupted my rally with a hell of a lot more respect than you’ve treated me.”). As he continued, however, Clinton became the first presidential candidate in history to link himself, his candidacy, and his potential presidency to the fight against AIDS: “…there are other choices on the ballot. Go get ‘em is my answer to you. If you want somebody that’ll fight AIDS, vote for me, because when I come in to do something, I do it, and I fight for it.” As the Reagan-Bush years came to a close, the Rafsky-Clinton confrontation marked a turning point in the American political establishment’s approach to the epidemic and the activists fighting it. By the end of 1992, just under 200,000 people in the United States had died from HIV/AIDS-related illness. Bob Rafsky died of AIDS on February 23, 1993; he was forty-seven. #lgbthistory #lgbtherstory #lgbttheirstory #gay #bi #trans #lesbian #poz #pride #bobrafsky #toosoongone #actup #fightback #fightaids #neverforget #neveragain #rememberthenames #rememberbobrafsky #march26 #bigday (at Midtown and Lower Manhattan) -- source link
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